Easy-care orchids

Mar. 29, 2013

Orchids from the 2013 Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden

Written by

Mary Beth Breckenridge

Akron Beacon Journal (MCT)

Orchids from the 2013 Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden

ANNUAL ORCHID SHOW

For an up-close look at orchids in all their varieties and growing environments, you can’t beat the Annual Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. As in years past, the landmark Enid A. Haupt Conservatory — the largest Victorian-style glasshouse in the country — has been transformed into a tropical rain forest, with thousands of orchids abloom in lush naturalistic settings. Along with all the orchids in rich shades of hot pink, violet and sultry yellow, the show features palm trees, a large stand of bamboo, ferns, philodendrons, bromeliads, aroids, Spanish moss and epiphytic cacti. Want a gin-and-tonic with your vandas and dendrobiums? Enjoy a cocktail while strolling the show on selected Saturdays (April 6 and 20) during Orchid Evenings. The hours are from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and advance tickets are recommended. Tickets include a complimentary cocktail and special dinner offers at nearby Arthur Avenue restaurants. Sounds like a fun and romantic date night, doesn’t it? If you goWhat: 11th annual Orchid Show When: Through April 22 Where: Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx River Parkway (Exit 7W) and Fordham Road, Bronx Tickets: All-Garden Pass tickets costs $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students, $8 for children 2 to 12, free for children under 2 and members. Information: 718-817-8700, www.nybg.org— Bill Cary

GROWING TIPS

• Put a moth orchid in indirect light and never in direct sun. The orchids like humidity, so let them spend some time in a bathroom now and then. • Go easy on watering. Water simply by placing three ice cubes in the pot each week. Druckenbrod believes the ice provides a little shock of cold to the roots that helps the plants retain their flower spikes and triggers reblooming. • If you fail with one orchid, try a different watering schedule, a different spot in the house or maybe a different orchid. • Buy from a vendor at an orchid show — they know their plants and how to care for them.

Orchids at the 11th Annual Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. / Bill Cary/The Journal News

Orchid lovers Cynthia Druckenbrod and Mary Bell have a message for those horticultural scaredy cats: Get over it.

Growing orchids successfully is a matter of finding the right plant for your conditions, says Bell, who grows about 500 orchids in the greenhouse attached to her Coventry Township, Ohio, home. Not all orchids are easy to grow, but there are plenty of choices that are, she says.

And many of those orchids have become so affordable that you don’t have to make a long-term commitment, she adds. If you don’t want to spend the time and effort coaxing one to rebloom, don’t bother. Just replace it.

Even with hundreds of plants to care for, Bell says she tends to her orchids only once or twice a week, whenever she needs to relax. She adds fungicide and a weak dose of fertilizer whenever she waters, treats for insects when she needs to and repots every couple of years, or sometimes sooner. But otherwise her orchids are fairly fuss-free.

Bell’s orchids grow in a variety of conditions that mimic their natural preferences — some in hanging baskets high in the greenhouse, some under grow lights, still others clinging to pieces of tree bark, without even any growing medium. They stay in the greenhouse in winter and go outdoors in warmer weather to a lath house in her backyard.

Her favorite orchids are showy vandas and cattleyas, but a better choice for beginners is the moth orchid, says Druckenbrod, an orchid enthusiast and the director of horticulture and conservation at the Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Moth orchids, properly called Phalaenopsis orchids, are easy to grow indoors and bloom for a long time. They thrive outside in warmer weather, provided they’re kept in a covered area where they’re protected from the rain — water can rot the crown.

Breeders have developed methods for growing moth orchids in mass quantities, so the plants are found even in grocery and home improvement stores at prices that often hover around $15.

And best of all, they’re beautiful. Their long flower spikes and flat, elliptical flowers give them a graceful, glamorous appearance that belies their low-fuss nature.

Moth orchids are easier to get to rebloom than other kinds of orchids, but sometimes they’re stubborn. Druckenbrod recommended giving the plant about a year to rebloom; if it doesn’t, you might want to buy a new plant.

In fact, Bell suggests thinking of orchids more like cut flowers than long-term houseplants. Get an inexpensive one you like, and “if it’s done (flowering), it’s done,” she says. Buy a new one.